Epstein Death Statement Was Drafted A Day Before He Died, Files Show

The 2019 US attorney statement on convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein's death was drafted a day before he died, newly released files show. The draft appears in a new batch of Epstein-related records released by the US Department of Justice.

At least 23 documents in the disclosure are labelled as statements from the Southern District of New York's US Attorney's Office. One version carries the date August 9, 2019. Epstein was found dead the following morning, on August 10, in his cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan.

The statement is attributed to then-Manhattan US Attorney Geoffrey S Berman and is titled, “Statement of Manhattan US Attorney on the Death of Defendant Jeffrey Epstein”. In it, Berman says the Manhattan Correctional Center confirmed that Epstein was found unresponsive in his cell and later pronounced dead.

“Earlier this morning, the Manhattan Correctional Center confirmed that Jeffrey Epstein, who faced charges brought by this Office of engaging in the sex trafficking of minors, had been found unresponsive in his cell and pronounced dead shortly thereafter,” it read.

The statement adds that the events were “disturbing” and could hinder efforts to give victims their day in court, saying that the investigation into the charges, including conspiracy, would continue.

The files contain multiple versions of similar draft statements with inconsistent redactions. Some copies leave names or phone numbers visible, while others block out most identifying information.

Jeffrey Epstein was reportedly found hanging in his jail cell with an orange noose that authorities said he fashioned from a sheet or a shirt.

His death was officially ruled a suicide, but it has remained under scrutiny. Newly released records reviewed by CBS News point to questions around jail surveillance footage from the night before his death.

Investigators saw an orange-coloured figure moving toward the tier housing Epstein's cell at about 10:39 pm on August 9.

One record describes the figure as “possibly an inmate,” while a Justice Department review identifies it as a corrections officer carrying orange linen. Independent analysts told CBS the movement looked more like an inmate. Prison staff said escorting an inmate at that hour would have been unusual.

The release also includes previously unseen photographs of Epstein after he was found unresponsive, published as part of a declassified FBI report. Some images show medics attempting resuscitation on a stretcher at 6:49 am on August 10, about 16 minutes after he was discovered.

Other images were taken at a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Several photos misspell his first name as “Jeffery.” An 89-page autopsy report from New York's medical examiner detailed fractures to his thyroid cartilage, as per the BBC.